The Formal Weather Pattern
by Unread-Letters
Summary: Darcy finds herself in a pickle when she agrees to bring her boyfriend home for Thanksgiving. The only problem...Darcy doesn't really have a boyfriend. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter One: Stormy Weather

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot, that's all mine. Everything else belongs to Marvel Comics, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kevin Feige and anyone else involved in "Thor," "Captain America," and "the Avengers." "The Formal Weather Pattern" is taken from the title a song by Something Corporate. "Stormy Weather" is a super old song.**

 **Author's Note: Hey guys! So, as some of you know, I can't stay away from the fake relationship trope and I couldn't get this idea out of my head. Enjoy!**

 **The Formal Weather Pattern**

 **Chapter One: Stormy Weather**

 **By: Unread Letters**

 _"It's gonna rain all day. With the life that I have made, here, all covered up in gray, it's gonna rain all day."- Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room_

To say Darcy's mother was upset about Darcy missing out on her sister's engagement party would have been the under statement of the year and is precisely the reason why Darcy has chosen to start ignoring her mother's frequent phone calls three weeks before Thanksgiving.

She's on her fourth cup of coffee and trolling through numerical data when the familiar chirp of R2-D2 rings through the lab for what feels like the millionth time that morning.

"Who the hell is texting you?" Jane finally asks, not bothering to hide her annoyance.

"It's my mom…again. I skipped Allison's party…"

"I told you you didn't have to." Jane looks up from her computer long enough to raise an eyebrow at Darcy.

"I know, I know. But now she's really on me about Thanksgiving." Darcy sighs and takes a chug of her coffee.

"So go." Jane says simply with a shrug, "You know I'm going to Asgard and the Tower'll be empty. Go see your mom."

"It's not just Mom, though. It's Allie and her stupid new fiancé and it's judgmental grandparent's disapproving stares and it's running into people from high school. Barf."

"You have a great life, Darcy!"

"I know I do but its all covert and I have to tell everyone I'm just a lowly assistant taking night classes. I just wish I could avoid all familial time for the foreseeable future and spend Thanksgiving weekend with Chinese food and the Freaks and Geeks box set. It'd be better if I had someone to go with me to cushion the blow but that's totally not possible."

"Thor would definitely be your pretend boyfriend if we weren't checking in on Loki."

Darcy laughed and her eyes grew wide, "I appreciate the thought but you might actually be onto something. I'm gonna call her."

"Do I wanna know where your brain is going right now?"

Darcy stopped as she opened the door and looked back at Jane, "Nope."

Her mother picked up on the third ring as Darcy was pacing the hallway.

"Darcy, honey! I've been trying for ages to get a hold of you."

"I know, Mom, I'm sorry. The reception here is awful."

"Don't you work in Stark Tower?"

"Yeah…but um…in the basement?" Darcy stopped her pacing to nod at Bucky who was making his way into one of Tony's labs. "I wanted to talk to you. I don't think I'll be able to make it to Thanksgiving this year."

"Oh Darcy, doesn't Jane ever give you a day off?"

"No, it's not Jane. I've been seeing someone…for a couple months now and we're gonna spend Thanksgiving with his family."

"You have a boyfriend?! And you didn't think to tell me! Oh Darcy why can't you bring him home to us?"

"I didn't want to jinx anything." Darcy sighed, "It's still pretty casual and we already promised his sister."

"Darcy that's not fair. Your family is important too and you couldn't even come to Allie's engagement party. She was devastated."

"I'm sure she was."

"Hey, watch the sarcasm. She and Jeff will be here and you know Nonnie would love to see you. Darcy, please?"

Darcy had tuned her mother out for half a second to turn her attention on Clint asking her to grab lunch. However, she must've been suffering from some sort of brain shortage when she said "Okay, sure" to Clint instead of nodding like she should've done.

"Oh, Darcy! Oh that's wonderful! Make sure to bring your boyfriend!" It took Darcy a minute to catch up to what actually happened and by the time she managed to explain her mother was talking a mile a minute, "I'm so happy Darcy. We haven't seen you in almost a year. I can't wait. Gotta run, though, Mrs. Whitman's knocking at the door again. Love you!" And with that the phone call ended.

Darcy slid against the wall, head in her hands. She counted down five minutes before heading back into the lab.

"How'd it go?" Jane asked, not bothering to look up from her computer.

"I'm an idiot." Darcy slumped in her chair and clicked aimlessly at the pages on her desktop.

"And?" Jane asked.

"I tried to tell Mama Lewis I couldn't make it to dinner because I had already promised my new boyfriend I'd be with his family and somehow my brain shorted out and when I said 'yes' to having lunch with Clint she took it as 'yes, my boyfriend and I will blow off seeing his family and spend the second worst holiday in existence with you instead."

Jane finally looked up from the screen and brushed a stray piece of hair from her eyes, "You have a boyfriend?"

"No." Darcy sighed, "But now I need to get one."

When the lunch hour rolled around, Darcy made her way to the cafeteria and found her usual spot at the table in the corner occupied not only by Clint but Steve and Bucky also. Her brain clicked when she saw the three of them laughing over something.

In the year she had been at the Tower, she knew Clint the best. He had a similar love of sarcasm and candy corn and action movies so he and Darcy naturally bonded during century long briefings and awkward medical exams. Once in a while he would come over and watch baseball while she worked on homework. On her birthday he shot an arrow with balloons attached through the window of her sociology class. He was a good dude. He was like the brother Darcy always wanted. And his dog was fucking awesome.

It seemed like nobody, Darcy definitely included, really knew Steve except maybe Bucky and Sam and Nat. He was always nice to Darcy and she appreciated his brief bouts of snarkiness. He also always smelled good. Like freedom! He went out of his way, one day when she ran into him in the library, to help her track down an original manuscript she needed for a source. He was an honorable man and Darcy tried her best to mind her manners and say all her please and thank yous when he was around because she desperately (and she'd never tell anyone this) wanted Steve's approval.

Truth be told, Bucky kind of scared Darcy but it wasn't because of anything obvious. He always looked thoughtful, wayward. He was polite enough and one time he got her a drink at some fundraiser or another where the bartender kept ignoring her. It had been for some charity that Pepper made Tony donate money too. Something about saving the whales or cacti or something. It was at a big restaurant in the center of the city and Darcy felt like an idiot for going but Tony had sent a "mandatory attendance" message and she had bought a dress and showed up. At that point, Bucky hadn't talked much to anyone in the Tower except for Steve so Darcy was more than a little taken back when he saddled up to the bar next to her and laughed as she stood on the stool rung and attempted to wave over the the other people around her. She was ready to give whoever the laughter belonged to a piece of her mind as she stepped down from the stool but she reigned it in when she saw who the source of the laughter was. Everyone had steered clear of Bucky at that point. He was still the Winter Solider to most of them and while Darcy didn't know the full details, she had to admit he scared her too. He was always sulking around the labs in all black with his hair falling into his eyes. He had cleaned himself up for the event, forced into a suit by Tony (probably) and had his hair pulled back which painted a rather nice picture. Darcy still tried her best to narrow her eyes and look somewhat intimidating even though it felt like her towered over her and she was definitely not checking out how his shoulders stretched the suit. Definitely not.

"Can I help you?" She crossed her arms and leaned against the bar.

"I think you're the one that needs the help, doll."

"I was doing just fine, thanks." She started to climb back up the stool but he touched her arm lightly.

"What're you drinking?" She noticed he had dropped all flirtation but still kept a small smile on his face.

"Well, they don't have my shitty beer so I guess I'm stuck with a gin and tonic."

"Right-O."

Darcy was about to explain how the bartender didn't even bother coming down to their end of the bar when Bucky put two fingers in his mouth and whistled.

Half the party, including the bartender turned and looked. Bucky waved him over. "Yeah, the lady would like a gin and tonic and I'll take a bourbon on the rocks. Thanks."

He tapped the bar with his metal hand but when he noticed Darcy looking he shoved it in his pocket.

"It's not a big deal, you know." He looked at her quizzically, "Your arm. Everyone has weird things. It's just that most people's aren't visible."

He ran his human hand through the stray hairs that were coming out of the tie. "It goes a little deeper than that, Darcy."

She was about to answer when the bartender returned with their drinks. Darcy and Bucky offered their thanks at the same time while Bucky handed the bartender his cash.

Bucky handed Darcy her drink, saluted her with his own glass, and made his way back to the corner he had been hiding in.

After that whenever Darcy had seen him around she always gave him a smile or a nod or a wave. One time she was bold enough to elbow him lightly in the elevator. He kept his eyes straight ahead, listening to Maria's briefing but Darcy felt his elbow hit her side for just a second. Bucky still scared her, though. Who knows how many people the Winter Solider had killed but there was something about him, something that intrigued Darcy more than anything.

But as she approached the table, and took in beautiful, damaged Steve, her buddy Clint, and super spy/award winning whistler Bucky, she realized that this was about as good as it was going to get as far as fake boyfriends were concerned.

Steve smiled and waved as she walked up to the table. Bucky was skimming the newspaper but looked up and nodded. Clint patted the seat next to him and elbowed her lightly when she sat down.

"Afternoon boys." She offered, pulling her chair up to the table. "I am in need of some assistance."

"Whatcha got, Darce?" Clint asked.

"I need a fake boyfriend for Thanksgiving."

Bucky laughed so hard he almost fell off of his seat, "Bet Tony could build you one."

"Not like that, doofus. Seriously, my mom's guilt tripping me into coming home and I may have told her I had a boyfriend I was supposed to spend the holiday with. It turned into a misunderstanding and now she thinks I've bringing him home. It's just for a couple days." She tried her best to bat her eyelashes.

Steve rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, "If something doesn't come up, I could probably step in."

Darcy wanted to cry. "Steve, my dear, you are perfect but nobody will believe we're dating. I was thinking more along the lines of these two…"

She side eyed Bucky and Clint who had spread Bucky's newspaper across the table where both sets of eyes were engrossed on the black and white print.

"Come on, guys. Please?"

Clint finally looked up and a gave her a sad smile, "I promised my brother I'd spend it with him."

"Bucky?"

"You don't want me, Darcy."

"Okay…well. Thanks anyway, guys. It was a stupid idea anyway." She started to pick at the macaroni and cheese on her plate and avoid making eye contact with all of them.

Thankfully she only had to endure ten awkward minutes before Jane was calling her with some sort of lab meltdown and a request for a burrito.

Two nights later, she was in her living room crying over the latest Hallmark movie when someone knocked on her door.

She peered through the peephole to find Bucky on the other side, holding a pizza and a six pack of beer and staring at his shoes.

She opened the door slowly, "Hey. What're you doing here?"

"I came to talk." He raised his arm holding the pizza box, "mushroom. And that shitty beer you like so much."

"How'd you know?" She stepped aside and ushered him in.

"Every social setting I've ever seen you in you always complain about how no one has it north of Baltimore. I had a meeting in D.C. today."

"Sam? I'll get plates, you can sit it on the coffee table. Just push the books on the floor."

He nodded and made his way to the living room, raising his voice slightly. "He's the reason I'm here. Well, he and Steve. They think I could use a few days away. Not mission related."

It was weird having him in her apartment. She didn't even bother to ask how he knew where to go. It was on file at Stark and he probably could've asked Jane or Clint who were, to her knowledge, the only people who had actually been to her apartment.

He was sitting in one of her Goodwill armchairs examining one of her books when she walked in with a stack of plates and a bottle opener. To say he looked out of place was an understatement. He was dressed in his uniform of black sweat pants and grey hoodie and his hair was tied back in a small bun with pieces falling into his face. He was too big for the chair he had picked and she watched for a second as he changed his position, trying to get himself comfortable. The bright yellow velvet fabric was a stark contrast to the bleak shades of Bucky. He shifted around again before giving up and moving to the old purple sofa where he settled in.

"You want a glass?" She asked as she took a seat in the chair he abandoned and set two plates on the coffee table.

He shook his head and grabbed a plate for himself and gave her a small smile, "Nah."

Bucky doled out the slices and then the beer. Darcy handed him the bottle opener. "Let me keep your cap. They have riddles on the bottom. I collect them."

Bucky examined the riddle before handing it over to her, "This one's easy."

She smiled at him and bit her pizza. "So you need a weekend away, huh?"

"Yeah. And I was thinking, it probably took a lot for you to ask. And I was kind of a dick about it."

She shrugged. "It was a weird thing to ask. I tried really hard to get out of going home but then it sort of blew up in my face."

"Why don't you wanna go?" He took a sip of his beer, "this is fucking horrible."

Darcy laughed and raised her bottle to her lips, "still love it. It's dumb, really. My sister, perfect sister, got engaged last month and that will bring on the Allison verses Darcy comparisons and truthfully, my life is so much more accomplished than Allie's but I cant tell any of them that so all they think is I'm a lab assistant with a useless degree who's back in school to prolong the fact that I'm a failure at all things. It'd be easier if I had something to show them. Plus there's the social obligations of going home and Baltimore's a small city and I always run into people I don't want to see and it's the same thing all over again."

"How long are you going?"

"Get there Tuesday after rush hour and leave Friday."

"I just don't want anything to happen, Darcy. I've been trying to distance myself. I don't know how much you know but it's worse than they say. I know it is."

"What'd Sam say?"

"He said I need this. It could do me some good being around civilians. But he also told me that you have to put Steve and Tony on panic dial just in case. And I need to be able to run or something in the mornings."

"Yeah, yeah of course." She took a bit of her pizza and swallowed. "Does this mean…"

"Yeah, yeah doll. I'll be your boyfriend."

Darcy lunged across the sofa and wrapped her arms around him. "You're the best, Barnes!"

Bucky laughed nervously and shoved her off. "This better be foolproof."

Darcy smiled as she brought her beer bottle to her lips. "We're gonna need another six pack."


	2. Chapter Two: Storm Is Coming

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot, that's all mine. Everything else belongs to Marvel Comics, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kevin Feige and anyone else involved in "Thor," "Captain America," and "the Avengers." "A Formal Weather Pattern" is taken from the title a song by Something Corporate. "Storm is coming, we feel fine" is from the Bouncing Souls song Comet. Tony Manero is the main character in** _ **Saturday Night Fever.**_ **All the places Darcy and Bucky venture to are real.**

 **Author's Note: I am in awe of you guys! You're amazing! Thank you! Thank you! P.S. This Bucky is a mix of MCU and the comics. He's definitely more MCU but since we don't have much to go by personality wise, I'm resorting to some later Buckyisms, not sidekick Bucky. Also, I apoligze for the text dialogue. It's not my favorite to write but it worked for this chapter.**

 **A Formal Weather Pattern**

 **Chapter Two: Storm Is Coming, We Feel Fine**

 **By: Unread Letters**

 _"_ _I have a picture of you and me in Brooklyn. On a porch, it was raining._

 _Hey, I remember that day._ _"_ \- Jawbreaker

It felt like Darcy and Bucky had spent hours that first night creating the map of their relationship. After almost three six packs (not all Darcy, thanks, Bucky was like a tank) they had managed to figure out how they met (at that fundraiser, turned out they had mutual friends -cough-Steve-Thor-cough- who thought they'd like each other but Bucky had previously spotted Darcy during one of his frequent meetings at Stark Tower), Bucky's job (sergeant in the army, now works in covert ops for the government, freelance jobs for Tony Stark once in a while) and fleshed out the details of their relationship (he hogs the covers, she talks during movies, he likes pepperoni but always gets mushrooms because she doesn't eat pork, their favorite thing in the world is when the Yankee's lose, she hates wearing heels but he digs them so she wears them).

Darcy doesn't see Bucky for almost a week after that and it seems fine until she gets a text from her sister with serious sarcastic undertones asking Darcy about her secret boyfriend and it's the first time since their case of beer night that she starts to doubt their planning.

"What you need," Clint says between bites of his pizza, "is pictures."

Darcy stops blowing bubbles in her soda and looks at him, "Huh?"

Clint shrugs, "You know, like, 'awww here's a selfie of us at the park,' 'haha here's the picture I snuck when I had to sit across from you on the subway.' You're not on Facebook anymore, right?"

"Nah. I had to delete it when we went to Tromso."

"Okay, so all your sister knows is that you haven't been open about your boyfriend. Fill your phone with stupid pictures and regale her with the story of you and Bucky in person. I bet Tony knows a way to re-date them."

"You, Mr. Barton, are a genius. Do you have Bucky's number?"

Clint smiled, "I do what I can. Yeah, he better not kick my ass for giving out it."

Darcy (1:15 p.m.): Hey, doing anything tomorrow?

Bucky (1:28 p.m.): Who the hell is this?

Darcy (1:29 p.m.): Darcy

Darcy (1:30 p.m.): Lewis

Bucky (1:47 p.m.): How'd you get this number?

Darcy (1:49 p.m.): Clint, please don't kick his ass. I asked.

Bucky (2:13 p.m.): L.O.L. (is that what the kids are sayin' these days?) I'm probably going to the gym.

Darcy (2:14 p.m.): That's nice?

Bucky (2:15 p.m.): Tomorrow. You asked what I was doing tomorrow.

Darcy (2:20 p.m.): Oh…duh. If the gym doesn't take top priority, wanna go on several dates with me?

Bucky (2:21 p.m.): Is that code for something?

Darcy (2:23 p.m.): No, it's a long story but the short of it is, we need pictures. Bring a couple different shirts and we'll go a couple different places. If we get an early start we can still make it to Thor's for the game. The Giant's are soooo going down.

Bucky (4:01 p.m.): 1. You're wrong and 2. You're probably right (about the pictures, not the Giants) 3. Is 7 too early for you?

Darcy (4:15 p.m.): Nah, it's cool. I'll bring you coffee. P.S. Darcy is totally right. Do I need to bring to your attention the 1958 Greatest Game Ever played?

Bucky (4:28 p.m.): What the hell are you talking about?

Darcy (4:29 p.m.): Google it.

Bucky (4:31 p.m.): You kids and your newfangled technology.

Darcy (4:33 p.m.): Don't forget your cane tomorrow.

Bucky (7:16 p.m.): I'll make sure the dentures are all shiny for your pictures.

At 7:01 the next morning, just as Darcy was about to knock, the door to Bucky's room swung open. He had a hair tie stuck between his teeth and was dressed in his normal attire of sweatpants and hoodie.

"Don't you own any other clothes?" Darcy asked as he tied his hair up.

"These are comfortable." He nodded a thanks as she handed him the coffee and they made their way back to the elevator, "Besides, everyone dresses down now."

She was rummaging through the giant purse she carried as they waited for the elevator, "That's a cop out. Which is why I bought you…aha…" She pulled three pieces of fabric from her purse, "These! I hope they fit."

Bucky traded Darcy his coffee for the shirts and examined each of them. One was a soft gray t-shirt that wasn't a far cry from his hoodie, the second one was a soft denim button down with some give in the shoulders, which he was thankful for, and the third was a simple black pullover sweater.

"Thank you, Darcy. You didn't have to do that." The doors dinged open and he gestured for her to walk in before him.

She saluted him with her coffee cup. "I'll hang on to them until you need 'em. I figured we should change our clothes at different destinations." They traded again.

"Good thinkin'." He finally took a sip of his coffee, "Holy shit. Where the hell did this come from?"

"The Anarchist bookstore on 24th."

"Seriously?"

"They have the best coffee and if you're lucky you can sit in on the Communist Feminist Book of the Month Club."

Bucky laughed as the doors opened, "I'd fit right in."

"Well, you do speak Russian." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Darcy realized she probably shouldn't have said it. Did people even talk to Bucky about the Winter Solider? She was such an idiot.

Her eyes widened when she chanced a look at him. He looked at her sternly, his mouth a thin line but just as Darcy was about to curl in on herself and die he started to laugh.

"I'm fucking with you."

Darcy breathed out a sigh of relief and smiled, "Sorry, is that still taboo?"

Bucky shrugged and held the lobby door open for her, "I don't know. I guess it should be. I'm dangerous and I was really dangerous as the Winter Solider but it just seems to ridiculous to me. I'm just a kid from Brooklyn, you know, and I have these vague, awful memories that feel like a movie playing out in my head. I have to laugh at it sometimes or else I'd go insane. Well, more insane than I already am."

"You're a good egg, Barnes." She elbowed him lightly in the arm.

"Now you're just insulting me." Darcy noticed that he stood back a tick so he could walk on her left side, the side closest to the road. She wasn't sure if he was being a gentleman or old fashioned or super spy but for whatever reason, it made her smile.

"Well, you're no Steve."

Bucky laughed, "That's better. Where are we going anyway?"

"Breakfast in Bryant Park." She tried with one hand to pull the collar of her coat up when Bucky intervened and helped flip the other side. "Thanks. Aren't you cold?"

He shook his head, "I was conditioned in Russia, remember? Isn't it supposed to rain today?"

"Not until later. We'll be fine. Plus we've got Mini Golf to get to."

"Mini Golf?"

"Yeah, like golf but not as boring." They stopped at a crosswalk and Darcy noticed that he tapped his fingers impatiently against his thigh.

"Hmmm interesting."

"I was going for photography opportunities. But after Mini Golf, it's your call."

"I didn't know I had to plan a date." She steered him towards a small metal trailer on the edge of the park.

"Mini golf's in Brooklyn and it's only fair if we take turns."

"Jesus, I don't know if I'd even recognize Brooklyn."

"You haven't been back?"

"Not yet. Haven't been ready, you know?"

"We can totally go somewhere else. I can torture you with the MoMa or we can traipse around Soho or something."

"Darcy, it's fine. I'll be fine. I've been meditating. Finding my Zen, as Bruce says. He makes me do yoga." Darcy chuckled. "Are the gardens still there?"

"The Botanical gardens? Yeah." Darcy twitched next to him in line, tapping her feet and clutching the last of her coffee.

"Great!" He smiled wide, "That's my date."

Darcy laughed, "Awesome! I've never actually been there."

Bucky chuckled, "Me neither."

Darcy's plan of food truck breakfast burritos in Bryant Park turned out to be an excellent idea. So much so that Bucky ate three. He took a picture of Darcy with guacamole on her chin and Darcy took a picture of him mid-chew.

On the subway ride into Brooklyn, Darcy took an "artsy fartsy" picture of the toe of his boot touching the toe of his purple ballet flat.

Bucky laughed the rest of the ride at the ridiculousness of "modern art" and kids taking pictures of their shoes.

They changed their shirts before the three surprisingly (well, maybe not) competitive rounds of mini golf. Bucky beat Darcy two out of three but she insisted that she let him win because of his "noob status." Bucky took a picture of Darcy holding the scorecard and sulking and she showed him how to take a triumphant selfie.

He took a picture of her jumping over a puddle.

She took a picture of him scaring pigeons.

They got pizza on 86th street and Bucky made Darcy take a picture in front of the window because he and Steve went there the day it opened. She took a picture of him rolling his pizza like Tony Manero.

He sat across from her on the train ride to Prospect Park and she snuck a picture of him staring out the window. The old lady next to her chuckled and winked.

They changed clothes again before the Botanical Gardens and while they walked around Bucky confessed, that had it been the summer time, he probably would've taken her to Coney Island. Darcy made him pinkie promise to take her as soon as it opened.

He posed like a cactus and Darcy laughed so hard that the picture came out blurry and an old lady sssshhhhed them.

They tried and failed to take a selfie in front of the Prospect Park carousel and ended up asking a tourist family to take it. Bucky threw his arm around Darcy's shoulders as she wrapped her arms around his waist. She thought she felt him rest his chin on her head for just a second before they detangled and the mother handed her camera back.

Bucky took a picture of Darcy riding one of the pink horses.

He checked his watch when they left and they decided it was time for their day of dates to end. They took a detour through the Greenmarket because Darcy wanted to buy the last sunflowers of the season. She didn't notice when Bucky snuck a picture of her holding her wares and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

Bucky suggested they drop the flowers off at Darcy's apartment before heading back to the Tower for Thor's football extravaganza. She made quick work of putting them in an old vase, a vase that looked like something his mother would've brought out for Thanksgiving dinner, checked her mail, grabbed a hat and scarf, and then the pair of them headed back to Manhattan.

When they were a block away from the subway the rain that had been threatening all day finally overcame the clouds and the sky exploded. Within a second Darcy and Bucky were soaked to the bone and trying to catch their breath. Bucky grabbed Darcy's arm and pulled her to the nearest place he could find, the porch of an old townhouse. Darcy pulled her dripping hat from her head, moved the sopping wet hair out of her eyes, and tried desperately to stop the eyeliner from running down her face. When she finally caught her breath, she looked over at Bucky whose equally wet hair was stuck in odd patterns to his cheeks. She couldn't hold her laughter in.

"I think," Bucky said with a chuckle, "this is the best time for a selfie."

"Oh really?" Darcy raised her eyebrow.

"Definitely. Get over here, doll."

Bucky opened his left arm to her and Darcy settled in under his shoulder. He was soaking wet but emitting enough heat that Darcy felt herself warm through at his touch. He used his right hand to lift his phone above their heads and snap a quick picture.

Upon review of the picture Darcy was pleased at how awful and lovely it was with their ridiculous hair and her running makeup and Bucky pulling an obnoxious but adorable face and Darcy genuinely smiling. She let out a loud guffaw when she noticed the old lady in the background, peering through the window at the odd, drenched couple taking pictures on her porch.

Darcy didn't even wait until she was home. She sent Allison the picture from the platform while they waited for the 6.

Darcy (4:43 p.m.): It rained in Brooklyn today.

Allison (5:05 p.m.): He looks like he needs a shower. Totally your type.

Bucky laughed a loud, hearty laugh when she read him Allison's text and she was finally, 100% confident that this might actually work.

When they got back to the Tower, Bucky offered her a warm cup of coffee and a towel before presenting her with a big, black sweatshirt and an equally humongous pair of sweatpants. When they made their way into the living room, Clint wouldn't hide his laughter while Tony whistled.

"How was the day of dates?" Steve asked as Bucky sat down next to him on the world's biggest sofa.

"Finally went to the Botanical Gardens."

"How was it?"

"Not bad at all."

Thor's football extravaganza had been born out of Steve watching old football reels and Thor catching wind of it. There was something about it, he always said to anyone who would listen, that reminded him of his rough and tumble childhood days. So he started asking (guilt tripping) anyone he could into watching football with him so much so that every Sunday most of them, as long as the safety of the universe wasn't compromised, sat around Tony's giant screen and watched whatever game was on.

Bucky wasn't one to readily join these wholesome events but Darcy noticed that he had started to make himself more and more present. He was always quiet but she could see he was making more of an effort, attempting to join conversation. When, to Darcy's dismay, the Giants scored a touchdown, he cheered with the rest of them.

Steve insisted she take a cab back to Brooklyn and Bucky, spurned by Steve's valor, insisted he stand outside with her.

"Why don't you live with everybody, else? You're here enough." He asked as he unsuccessfully hailed a cab.

"I don't really know. I just wanted something for me, I guess. Part of it was my family wouldn't believe that a lowly lab assistant was offered a suite in Stark Tower. The barely believe I can afford my place in Brooklyn but they think I still have Student Loans. It's nice being able to have a place that's just Darcy."

"I'm kinda jealous, actually." He tried again to get a cab and succeeded.

Darcy felt her shoulders slump slightly when it pulled up to the crib. "You're getting there. You'll have it soon." Bucky opened the door for her and she slide into the back seat.

"Thanks for today." He gave her a small smile and before she could say anything, he closed the cab door.

Maybe he wasn't so bad. He certainly wasn't so scary anymore. And he definitely wasn't getting his sweatshirt back.


	3. Message

Hey guys,

I just wanted to let you all know that while I am a slow updater, I am not abandoning this story. For some reason, I'm having issues uploading to . I also publish on AO3 and if i keep having issues that'll be the main source. My user profile is /users/tvparty18/pseuds/tvparty18. Feel free to direct message me with any questions. Thanks for all the support!


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